I watched Banzuke.com's videos to understand how he managed to stay for such a long time in Makuuchi, I still cannot get it. How? His inashi does not SEEM to be effective as Hoshitango. And he really doesn't seem to have any major strengths beside that. Why? Anyone can enlighten me?

Mediocre amateur before joining ozumo
No yotsu-sumo. NO yotsu-sumo.
Not much pushing power either.

Amazing censors though. Ridiculously good at his "catch"-game simulation. Every rikishi knows Asanowaka is going to beat them with side steps or withdrawals. Yet they fall for it.

Short-tempered and occasionally gets very angry at his foes during or after bouts. One incident was that Futeno-bout where he slapped Futeno at matta and after bout and refused to bow and was ordered back by shimpan to bow properly.

Reads cartoons and has child/children, is married to a woman.

Used to do really low crouching shikiri and also those snappy salt throws. Not anymore.

He is 35 years old.

Very good at break-dancing they say. He was in US at some trip and did dancing so well that dance instructor said he would become a good dancer but he is a bit too heavy....

Clown deliberately. Fell over from a canone in Canada. Kissed a lumberjack on the hand when shaking his hand and tapped KaioU's head many times while KaioU squuezed couple of apples in his hands into juice in CANADA.

Kintamayama has talked with him and said he was BIG. Kintamayama said, not Asanowaka.

Little Salt is his nickname.

The Core of Sumou is a very good thing always no matter if sumou is rotten or not.

Interestingly enough he does however have a number of victories over all current Ozeki (Gin-Boshi I guess) with the exception of "Musoyama". It's amazing he has been able to survive as long as he has, gotta give your boy props I guess lol. I've never really had a problem with him however, if opponents are dumb enough to loose to him knowing whats coming then.........

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"Look at every situation as if you were in the future and you were looking back on it." - Your MOM

I think the longevity of Asanowaka (and possibly Kyokushuzan) has a lot to do with his sumo style - take a look at his tachiai and how he comes out of it. He basically floats out. He backtracks and slaps. He does tachiai henkas. He jogs and dances around the dohyo.

Basically his sumo style forces his opponents to come out "soft" so he never gets hit hard by them. He moves around the dohyo and his opponents play catch-ups. He does not get thrown out hard nor pushed out hard. So he hardly suffers any serious injuries. And that has been his secret.

It' a sumo style everyone hates and makes a boring sumo but there is something to be said about this. I think the reason he has stayed up there so long is because he has a canny timing - just as the opponent runs out of his patience and come storming, he just sidesteps and slaps him down. The game over.

In baseball knuckle ball pitchers last long time because they don't throw hard and they don't put too much stress on their shoulder. So it is with Asanowaka. His is no-stress no-pressure sumo. He mastered the art no one wants to learn nor practice.

< Heart Technique Physique >More frailer than the flowers, these precious hours that keep us so tightly boundYou come to my eyes like a vision from the skies

Almost all rikishis have the model called "Jibun jubun [advantageous for myself]".
His jyubun is that he puts his short hand on the backside of a opponent's head.
The case where he can attain it most smoothly is the case where Tachiai as his order is offered.
It is his order that a opponent turns the head downward and rushes from shikiri of a short distance.
In this case, before a opponent stands up completely, or before colliding with, the hand of Asanowaka will already have got in behind a oponent's neck [=jyubun].
A surprising thing is that such a opponent is never rare.

In order not to become Asanowaka's victim, at the Tachiai, opponent needs to make it Shikiri which fell back.
Next, without bowing, and moves forward slowly so that a hen may be driven into a henhouse.
However, it does not go in practice so simply.
That is because it pushes with a low posture like Takekaze when Asanowaka is in good health.
So, he can maintain the status of Sekitori.
It is the only effective policy to collide with on a breast with Kachiage like Wakanosato.
However, it is difficult for a bodily small opponent to oppose him of such a good condition.

When Asanowaka is in such a condition, I cannot explain why he did not get sufficient victory.
I looked at repeatedly that he of such a state was nonresistant, lost and was not mortified.
There was Torikumi in which he is not very calm only once.
It is the torikumi against Futeno which Kaikitsune-san touched on.
Since he did not use usual easy Torikuchi, I also think that his most impressive Torikumi.
2004.03-Senshuraku.
A torikumi whose Futeno which is the only young hoped rikishi in Dewa-ichimon risked remains on Makuuchi.
Asanowaka had decided remains on Makuuchi on the previous day.
I thought mere reappearance of the scene on which I saw this ｔorikumi repeatedly till then.
However, Asanowaka of the day completely differed from my imagination.
He came by a demon's look which has never been shown till then.
I found clearly that he was very angry.
He refused to cooperate to Tachiai, and land a harite on the face of Futeno several times.
After that, he concentrated on merely hiting the face of Futeno, and was ignoring victory or defeat.
Finally, after he was pushed out and of dohyo, he hit strong Harite of finish.
I have not seen that Sumo in the past.
I cannot judge it for whether his mental state to Futeno is mere anger, it and encouragement, or education.
However, I felt the justification of the sanction of Asanowaka at that time sensuously.

Interestingly enough he does however have a number of victories over all current Ozeki (Gin-Boshi I guess) with the exception of "Musoyama".

I did some research on my own at the wonderful scgroup.com site and found that Asanowaka's record against OZEKI are:

Takanonami: 1-8Wakanohana: 0-7Musashimaru:0-3Chiyotaikai: 0-2Dejima: 0-2Musoyama: 0-1He never fought against Miyabiyama, Kaio, Tochiazuma and Asashoryu (quite obvious of course) while they were ranked at Ozeki.

So overall he has only 1 win against 23 losses.

Including his record against Yokozuna he is 1-37 against the cream of the crop.

Akebono: 0-5Takanohana: 0-9He never fought against Wakanohana, Musashimaru and Asashoryu while they were ranked at Yokozuna.

He's from Ichinomiya City in Aichi Prefecture, just 10 minutes (by train) north of Nagoya. Ichinomiya is affectionately known in the region as a "textiles wasteland", due to all the failing and closed-up factories, warehouses, and outlets. Every year for the Nagoya basho, a few sumo-beya set up their temporary headquarters in Ichinomiya.

I just wanted to point out that Asanowaka was never going to be a human highlight reel against the top rankers. He could never be a Giant Killer, as he was all about the tricks and the top tier were too good for that. But against all the middle makunouchi men, he was a consistent handful. I always thought that his greatest asset was his ring-sense and his balance, rather than any strength or quickness. He just managed to find himself in the right positions every time, and that is what made him so capable of sticking in the top.

I also think that the best pre-tachiai moments were always Asanowaka-Mitoizumi back when there was still a little pre-bout pushup and a serious salt-fling by Asanowaka, contrasted with the gargantuan fist of salt by Mitoizumi. Made me cheer every time I saw it live as a little kid. :)